NEW YORK (WABC) -- Rabbi Alvin Kass, the NYPD's chief chaplain and a bedrock of the department's faith for nearly six decades, died overnight. He was 89 years old.

Kass was the department's oldest member and its longest serving at the time of this death.

He was a beloved figure in the department, one of the first to respond on Sept 11, 2001 and a fixture at both celebrations and funerals, "through moments of tragedy and triumph alike."

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called Kass the NYPD's "spiritual heart - a source of strength, guidance, and faith for generations of police officers and their families."

She remembered "his familiar blessing - a prayer that New York be 'a place where people of every race, religion, color, and creed can pursue their individual destinies untrammeled,

See Full Page